At the London OM Yoga Show

The London OM Yoga Show is an annual event that has been Europe’s largest yoga phenomenon since its inception in 2003. It claims to be “the total yoga experience under one roof “. Although it ostensibly strives to bring together the yoga community with the promise that “You will find everything you need for your yoga practice together with inspirational products for a healthy lifestyle”, many people see ‘products’ as being the key word. Each year I notice that fewer yoga schools are represented – almost no individual yogis had stands, as they did in the early days when teachers were offered the option of small inexpensive individual tables.

I didn’t have a stand, however I did spend parts of Friday and Saturday selling and signing my books. Tatiana, a former student, gave me a small table on her stall. She is starting a very creative new business, based on bringing the chakras into everyday life.

Many of the people who came by reported that they already possessed copies of my various books – and were inspired by reading them. I noticed that people who had one of my books were likely to buy a second – several people bought copies of them all. One young man thanked me repeatedly for writing “The Power of Breath”. He said it taught him to breathe properly. He bought the book in 2009, the year that it came out, and has been practicing with it ever since.

This reminded me of a similar experience at last year’s Yoga Show when another young man picked up a copy of my book “The Essential Guide to Chakras” and told his friend, “This is the book that I have to thank for my Master’s degree”. His degree was in theatre and his thesis expounded a technique that he had developed using the chakras to enable actors to better tune into the emotional state of their characters. He eagerly purchased a copy of my latest book “Mudras for Modern Life” and seemed very happy when I asked him if he wanted me to sign it.

In addition to selling books, I handed out leaflets for the ‘Mudras for Modern Life’ workshop that I’ll be teaching on Sunday (30th Oct, 2:30-5:30pm) at Yotopia in Covent Garden, London